Get Ready — Forecasters Predict a Brutal Winter Ahead

This summer has been unusually hot, with record-breaking temperatures all over the country. But in a few months, we may be wishing for a little of that heat — forecasters are warning we should brace for a particularly harsh winter.

Seems a powerful current that runs along the South American coast is becoming an El Nino, which produces warmer water temperatures — and in previous El Nino years, the US got some pretty bad winter storms.

They’re predicted to hit the East Coast the hardest, with Accu-Weather’s lead long-term forecaster Paul Pastelok saying, “November in the Northeast could be above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation, and December could be a transition month … By January and February it’s going to get pretty cold.”

Compare that to last year’s mild winter, and the change is even more dramatic.

But if things do get nasty, it’ll be good news for at least some businesses — companies that make cold-weather clothes and other necessities like shovels and de-icing salts took quite a hit last winter, when sales were so poor that prices had to be slashed to the bone.